among them, states where housing was hardest hit, nevada, california, florida, michigan. another bright spot, the nation's biggest homebuilder, toll brothers, reporting orders rising sharply. >> the mortgage rate, the best time. a steal. >> reporter: david muir, abc new, new york. >> look at the fact that the housing collapse in this country was one of the reason we went into recession, the hard-hit states, primarily florida, nevada, california. it's good to see the states bouncing back. a lot of good news in there. hope a soon of things to come. things get back to somewhat normal after the, the recession continues to ease. that's good news. worth highlighting. >> mortgage rates at historic lows. you have to get your home to appraise for more than what you paid for it. ideally. >> ideally. no. you have to. you can't be upside down. you cannot refinance. >>> also on the upswing, the number of women in some of the country's best paid, most prestigious jobs. new numbers show that women -- let's hear it for the ladies -- now account for a third of doctors and lawyers making h